Better Water for All: Re-engineer water engineering for equitable and resilient access to high-quality water for future generations

Water is fundamental for basic human needs, economic activities (agriculture, industry, business, energy), social well-being, environment, and ecosystem health, with a value of US$58 trillion annually for economic and environmental importance. The future faces grand challenges of water scarcity and water quality. Population growth to 9.8 billion by 2050, urbanisation and industrial growth will escalate water demand. Climate change aggravates water scarcity and pollution caused by flooding and drought events. 2.2 billion people still lacked access to safely managed drinking water services in 2022. The future calls for Water Reuse and Circular Economy approach to save our water resources. However, a key obstacle is the emerging chemical and biological micropollutants (ECBM) in drinking water and wastewater systems, which reduces the water quality for reuse, and the product value of recovered resources. ECBM can be extremely persistent and accumulative, e.g., per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) micro- and nano-plastics, antimicrobials and resistance genes (AMR), which pose significant risks to environmental and public health. The challenges are multi-level: technical, economic, environmental, legal, political and social. Conventional water/wastewater systems are not sufficient in removing ECBM. Water research innovation and implementation can suffer from adverse outcomes due to a lack of systems thinking, learnt from historical examples, e.g., high cost and energy consumption, conflicting the circular economy and net zero agenda. Incidents related to water safety have been increasingly reported in various regions in the UK. The public's increasing demand for better water quality and existing water poverty issues require low-cost, sustainable solutions. We propose “Better Water for All: Re-engineer water engineering for equitable and resilient access to high-quality water for future generations” Network Plus to address these challenges and develop comprehensive and effective frameworks to manage and reduce emerging chemical and biological micropollutants (ECBM) risks in water/wastewater systems. The Network aims to establish a robust cross-disciplinary network comprising various stakeholders, academic researchers, industry experts, policymakers, NGOs, and public community. The Network will co-create frameworks to address the future challenges posed by ECBM. The Network will develop strategic roadmaps for research themes in water engineering, foster collaboration and support technology development of efficient, low-cost, and sustainable technologies. The Network will advocate water and water engineering to the public, attract more investments to water engineering research and enhance societal impact. The Network is expected to generate significant societal, environmental, and economic impacts “for all” with Equality, diversity and inclusivity principles. The Network will provide a hub for communication, collaboration, knowledge exchange and resource sharing. Engaging with policymakers and the public will emphasise our proactive approach to outreach and policy impact. Strengthened partnerships, generation of new data and evidence, and upskilled human resources will leverage and diversify funding/investment to support the whole lifecycle of water engineering innovation. Enhanced public awareness and systems approaches and outputs will impact policy- and regulation-making.